January U.S. Inventory, Days’ Supply Grow

The number of light vehicles on U.S. dealer lots rose 4.6% to 3,174,154 units at the end of January from prior-month’s 3,033,873, even as softer sales pushed the days’ supply barometer to a high 76 from December’s subpar 58 days’.

That the inventory level was 24.8% higher than January 2012 largely reflected the still-weak position of Asian brands a year ago, when they had yet to fully recover from 2011’s natural-disaster-related production losses.

The sharp rise in January days’ supply provided much of the impetus for a number of output adjustments baked into the latest North American production-schedule revisions.

This was particularly true of the Detroit Three, holding a collective 89 days’ supply of LVs compared with 65 for Asian auto makers and a like number for the Europeans.

General Motors in particular posted an outsized 95 days’ supply of LVs, including inventories in excess of 100 days’ supply for most Buick and Cadillac models and several Chevrolet car lines.

The Canada-built Buick Regal’s whopping 200 days’ supply was among the highest of all LVs for the month.

While GM light trucks posted an overall 94 days’ supply on Jan.31, up sharply from prior-month’s 67 days’, most of those models remained below the 100 days’ level.

At the same time, Asian and European makes achieved a desirable 65 days’ LV supply at the end of January, up from the weak readings of 49 and 46, respectively, in December.

Still, some brands struggled to keep dealers supplied, ranging from 40 days’ at Subaru to 58 for Hyundai and Kia.

Midsize cars, at 67 days’ supply, saw the tightest inventory in January, followed by 68 days for cross/utility vehicles and 69 for SUVs.

At the opposite end of the scale, pickup inventory reached 106 days’, followed by luxury cars at 84 and vans at 83.

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